Rock Band 4 is announced!

[Titan]

That's right. It's back baby. Harmonix announced today that Rock Band 4 is coming. It will be released this year. They seem to be really careful how they are going back to it. The music video game genre almost was at a standstill. Rock Band 3 came out in 2010 and then they took a 5 year break. This one is the only one they are saying they're releasing for this generation, adding new features and songs as time passes. I'm looking forward to it. I'm all nostalgic for my drunken college nights when me and my friends would get wasted and play Rock Band or Guitar Hero. I very well may pick this one up.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/05/rock-band-4-announced-for-ps4-and-xbox-one

“When we stopped developing Rock Band 3 [in 2010], clearly the market needed a break,” Harmonix Chief Creative Officer Alex Rigopulos told IGN. “But since then we’ve been paying close attention to what our community has been saying about it. There’s been this steadily growing crescendo of fans saying, ‘Hey Harmonix, what the hell? It’s time! Why haven’t you announced a new Rock Band? We’re ready for it!’”

Crucially, your purchased songs from previous Rock Band iterations will transfer to the new generation of consoles, with a few notable exceptions. First, as your purchases are tied to your console account, Xbox One players will only be able to import Xbox 360 DLC, and PS4 players can only bring in PS3 DLC. However, there will be no import fee to bring your DLC into Rock Band 4.

Due to licensing restrictions, Rock Band 3’s on-disc music will also not be available in Rock Band 4, though Harmonix told IGN that it’s possible that a deal could be reached in the future for this to happen. Songs from The Beatles: Rock Band will also not be making the leap to Rock Band 4.

Meanwhile, backwards compatibility with your old plastic guitars and drums are still up in the air, as both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 utilize different wireless controller communication protocols than their predecessors. Harmonix is in active discussions with Sony and Microsoft, with the hopes of getting permission to create sold-separately adapters that would plug into your console and enable your last-gen instruments to work.

“It is a challenge, but it’s something that [Sony and Microsoft are] working actively with us on,” Rigopulos explained. “I am confident that we’ll be able to find workable solutions.” Harmonix adds that they’re getting back to the “core” Rock Band experience, and thus keyboard will not be supported (though the vocal harmonies added in The Beatles: Rock Band will be).

Furthermore, Harmonix has no intention of releasing yearly sequels that, once upon a time, helped saturate and destroy the music game market. In fact, they don’t plan to release any sequels. Rock Band 4, they say, will be a platform that they add to over the course of the console generation, adding new features as well as new music.